The Promotion
by If-Only-I-Could-Fall
Summary: Getting promoted to a bigger, better-paying job sounds great, right? Well, when Jace finally gets a shot at working upstairs, and out of customer-service, he finds that working in a cramped office full of dramatic adults 48 hours a week isn't as easy as he thought it would be. Add a fiery-headed receptionist to that mix, and you have a recipe for disaster.
1. Prologue

**_Ooh, a new story... Hmm..._**

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**Prologue**

"Get your ass in here _now_, Herondale!" the blaring voice of Jace's boss sounded through the large room from the sound system in the ceiling, causing his head to jerk up sharply and his headphones to rip from his ears.

Yes. He could hear the yelling over the top of his loud music. His boss's voice was _that_ loud.

He hastily scooted his chair back from his small desk, which was located inside of his tiny cubicle, and stood from his chair, making his way towards Mr. Starkweather's office immediately after.

He walked out of the large room that had several dozen cubical units set in its flat-lay and walked over to the elevator, pressing the 'UP' button once he was there. When the doors opened, he stepped inside and stabbed one of the numerous buttons on the wall of the elevator marked '20', leaning against the wall of the moving-metal-box when he was done.

After the elevator finally opened again, to reveal a fancily decorated secretary's desk and a small waiting-room, Jace walked over to the desk and waited for the girl who was sitting behind it to look up from her magazine. When she did, _finally_, her eyes widened into moons and she quickly flipped her magazine shut.

"M-may I help you, handsome?" she asked as she leant over her desk and gave him a full view of her cleavage, biting her lip 'seductively' and blinking slowly as she did. With an internal groan of irritation, Jace forced a smile at her and decided to just tough it out for the time being.

_They're all the same,_ he thought to himself. _Why can't they just leave me alone, for once? It's like every time girls see an extremely attractive male, which I am, they swarm to the innocent specimen like bees and honey. Like, god! Just leave me alone already!_

"I was called up here, by Hodg-," he cut himself off and cleared his throat, before continuing, "I mean_, Mr. Starkweather_." He added a charming smile at the end, completely fake, to the secretary in order punctuate himself. He didn't want to come across as if he was flirting with her, but he also didn't want to be rude. He might've already been in enough shit as it was, so…

"Oh, yes! Of course. You must be Mr. Herondale." She straightened up and looked slightly nervous as she gestured to a large door on the right of the large desk. "Mr. Starkweather has been waiting for you. Just go right on in." she offered him another smile as he started towards the door, and Jace couldn't help but notice the way she seemed to fidget in her chair.

What was up with her? He didn't know, but he had other things to worry about at the moment.

Inhaling a deep breath and running a hand through his hair nervously, Jace knocked lightly on the door that was marked 'Hodge Starkweather – CEO'. He sighed heavily and bit his lip as he re-smoothed down his hair, trying to think up reasons that his boss would want to see him in his office. Especially since Jace was just an assistant; all that he did was answer phones and make coffee runs for the people upstairs. Well, he was technically a customer service handler, or something like that, but he mainly answered phones and went on coffee runs. Yep, he had the life…

"Come in." a voice called from behind the door, breaking him out of his head. He took another deep breath, cleared his throat, and then –against his better judgment- slowly opened the large door and poked his head inside of the office.

Hodge –or 'Mr. Starkweather' as he was required to call him- was sat at his overly-large, completely marble, desk. Two large, plush chairs were sat in front of the desk on the side nearest to Jace and the door and he could see several bottles of amber liquid shining in glass bottles behind the desk; most likely whiskey or scotch. His boss had his head bent over a stack of papers and was idly twirling a straw around in his coffee-mug as he squinted down at something on one of the pages. Oh, man. If Jace wasn't nervous before, he _definitely_ was now.

Hodge –Mr. Starkweather, whatever you call him- scared the absolute_ shit_ out of every single employee he ever had. That included Jace, as hard as it was for him to admit. He remembered when he first applied for his job, when he was still living with his brother and his overly-flamboyant boyfriend…

Hodge had made him want to hide under a rock for the rest of eternity after his job-interview, and that was extremely hard; especially considering that Jace had fortresses upon fortresses built up to lock away any and all fear.

The man, with his graying hair and short stature, appeared to be nothing more than your local boss. He was always seen wearing a suit, never without one neatly folded to his body. Small glasses perched on the bridge of his nose helped tone down the stern exterior of the man, but when he talked his voice made you want to run and hide.

Hodge had a loud, demanding voice. It didn't matter if he was talking to one of his many grandchildren or if he was in a business meeting; he was always loud and stern with his words. Never speaking an unsure verb in his life, he always knew exactly what he wanted to say.

Jace rapped his knuckles on the door lightly after a moment of noticing that the man before him wasn't going to notice him anytime soon. In response, the other man's eyes flickered up quickly and seemed to brighten when they landed on Jace's half-in-half-out form in the doorway. He stood up, his small height almost laughable if it weren't for the fact that he had the capability to make any grown man cry for his mommy, and smiled brightly over at Jace as he stepped slightly further into the large office.

"Mr. Herondale! Please, come in. Come in." he exclaimed, his voice dripping with authority. Jace swallowed heavily and inhaled –what could've been his last breath, for all he knew- before fully stepping into the office.

He looked around cautiously as he slowly walked over to the chair that was sat across from Hodge, as if somebody was going to jump out at him the moment he let his guard down. Taking a sit on the edge of the plush, leather chair, Jace took a deep breath before speaking. "You asked for me, Sir?"

"Yes, yes..." the intimidating man murmured to himself, glancing down at the papers before him and nodding to himself absently. "Well, Mr. Herondale, I have quite the proposition for you. I would like to offer you a promotion." He stated, lifting his eyes up from the papers and smiling hopefully over at Jace.

Blinking several times, watching to see if the scary man was joking, Jace just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face. "You –uh- what?"

Hodge just chuckled good-naturedly and leaned back in his large chair, arching his fingers atop his abdomen when he was comfortable. "I said that I would like to offer you a promotion. As a matter of fact, I would like to give you a _real_ job. One where you aren't answering phones all day." Taking note of Jace's slack jaw and shocked expression, he shook his head slightly and offered the younger man a semi-genuine smile. "I started working down there in Costumer Service, you know. I know what it's like to be cramped up in a cubicle, and I also know that it's hell. Working down there, well, it isn't a real job. Up here, where you can actually stretch out your legs, it's heaven." He explained, sounding like he was spewing out a sales pitch instead of giving Jace a job offer.

"I've been watching you for a while, actually." Hodge continued. "And I think that, with the right job and opportunity, you would fit in nicely up here. Your resume was_ way_ overqualified, if I do say so myself, and Corporate has given me the go-ahead to promote you. All I need is for you to say yes, and then we'll be ready to tie up this hog and get 'em ready for the slaughterhouse!" his metaphor didn't help very much with Jace's nerves, and he couldn't help the shiver that rolled down his spine at the man's words. _Vicious, vicious man._

Jace, still acting like he had some mental problems, finally snapped out of his daze and nodded to himself in thought, thinking over the offer. Not that there was actually anything to think over, but… Well, you know.

Working downstairs, answering calls all day and having to deal with people you hate for eight hours a day, it _was_ hell. Nobody liked working the job that Jace did, but he had dealt with it for the time being. He had to pay the rent somehow, right?

This was the whole reason that Jace took the job at _City of Glass_. The job, answering phones and writing down customer reviews, was only temporary, the management had assured him. Almost everyone who started out working downstairs got promoted within their first year of working for the company, and they were correct, apparently. Though, Jace thought, he had been working at _City of Glass_ for more than a year, but… this will make up for it.

Just as long as he didn't have to ever work downstairs again, he was good.

Hodge, who had been watching the younger man with hopeful eyes while he 'thought things through', smiled broadly and chuckled when Jace nodded. "Atta boy, Mr. Herondale. I assure you, that you will love it up here. And you, with those looks, will most likely fit right in, too." The older man said happily, standing from his chair and reaching across the wide desk to shake Jace's hand.

Though short and greying, Hodge had a firm handshake. Jace, still intimidated by the man that he was frightened of, but still strived to please, shook the smaller man's hand as firmly as he could. He didn't want to squeeze too hard and come off as threatening, but he highly doubted that he could even intimidate Hodge. The man was just _that_ powerful.

"Now, if you'll come this way," Hodge started, rounding the desk and picking up a manila folder full f papers as he led Jace towards the doors on the other side of the room, "we can sign all of these papers, and then I'll introduce you to your new boss."

Jace followed after him, his legs moving quickly as he tried to maintain at Hodge's side as they made their way back through the waiting area that contained the secretary that seemed so nervous before. Was his promotion what had her so on edge, or was it something else?

The girl had been slouched in her seat when the two men walked out of Hodge's office, but she straightened up as soon as she became aware of Hodge's presence. "M-Mr. Sarkweather! May I help you?" she asked politely, smiling professionally over at the small, yet intimidating man by Jace's side.

"Yes, Maureen, you may. I need you to get Mr. Wayland on the phone, please, and alert him that Mr. Herondale accepted the job offer. We will be heading down to the office in just a short while; right after we finish filling out the paperwork." Hodge informed her, nodding his head in the direction of the doors that lead back out to where the elevators were held. He started towards them after seeing the girl nod, and Jace had no other option but to follow suit.

"Who's Mr. Wayland?" Jace asked curiously as the two men stepped onto the elevator. Hodge leaned back against one of the walls casually and watched Jace as he went to push the button for the floor that they needed to go to.

"Number sixteen," he told Jace when he glanced back at him. "Anyway, Michael is the Regional Manager for this specific location. I'm his boss, being the CEO and all, but he'll be your boss from now on. He's really a great guy, you just have to get used to his… uh… managing techniques." He said, wincing slightly and chuckling to himself at the last part.

Jace nodded to himself and bit his lip. "So, what will be doing, exactly? For this new job, I mean."

"Well, if your resume was accurate, you would be a salesman. We're short one, ever since Malachi passed, and I think that you fit the job description very well." Hodge told him, rubbing a hand along his chin in thought. "Of course, you will have to learn the 'ways of the road', if you will, so…" he shrugged. "One of the head salesmen will have to run you through the loops, teach you what you need to know. It won't be so hard, really; you're already so charming. You'll have this job down to a 'T' in no time at all." He offered Jace a smile, and Jace tried to return it, but a small grimace was all he could manage.

He was nervous. Point and blank.

The only other job that he had had was at a fast-food restaurant, and he had quit that job as soon as he had enough money to buy his car. It was just a summer job, and he had sworn to himself that he would never, _ever_ work at another place like that ever again. The hours were long. The people were rude. And the pay was just above regulation. All in all, it was horrible.

The elevator's doors '_ding_ed' open, and then Jace was following after Hodge's quick steps down an unfamiliar corridor. It was bare, save for the false-ferns sat randomly at points down the long hallway. Doors were scattered along the way, but Hodge just led Jace past all of them until they reached the end of the hall.

A set of double-doors was sat in front of them, and Hodge pushed those open, allowing Jace to enter whatever the doors held before he himself walked in behind the younger man.

Jace looked around him as he walked into the large room. It was huge, a massive office-room that was littered with desks and filing cabinets in the middle of the flat-lay. There were no cubicles as there were downstairs where Jace used to work, but desks were set in groups of three and four all over the large layout of the room. Several doors dotted the walls of the room, and there were excess filing-cabinets along the walls, but the room was otherwise plain.

As Hodge walked around Jace and continued to lead him further into the room, Jace's eyes zeroed in on the large desk that was sat in front of him. It was black, had a large counter that was stacked on top of the first level of the desk, and curved in a half-circle. No one appeared to occupy the desk. It was clearly the receptionist's desk, but said receptionist was absent from the picture. People were working in their desks around the large room, answering calls or signing paperwork.

Hodge led Jace over to the large, curved desk and looked around for a minute with his eyebrows furrowed when he noticed that nobody was there. Leaning his palms on the edge of the counter of the desk, he leaned over the massive thing, almost making his feet rise clear off of the ground, and looked over the edge. "Hello?" he said curiously, craning his neck as if to see what was behind the two-tiered desk.

A '_thud_' rattled the candy-dish that was set on top of the counter, causing Hodge to jump back away from the desk and Jace to step closer in curiosity. Then a flurry of crimson-red appeared from the other side of the counter.

"Ouch! That was painful." A soft voice exclaimed as a thin hand appeared in the mass of red. Jace watched with interest as another hand came up and flipped the redness back, revealing the single-handedly most beautiful face that Jace had ever seen. Bright-green eyes, resembling emeralds; the small scattering of freckles over a small nose; soft, pink lips that were pulled back into a wince.

Hodge just chuckled, while Jace stared with wide eyes like an idiot, and leaned back against the counter casually. "Ms. Morgenstern! I was wondering where you got off to, dear girl."

'Ms. Morgenstern', as Hodge called her, seemed to relax and a small smile appeared on her lips as she continued to rub at the top of her head. "Oh, Mr. Starkweather! I'm sorry, I was just trying to find my pen, and-," she hastily started to explain, a rosy blush dusting her cheeks. Hodge, however, cut her off before she could even finish her sentence.

"Don't worry, dear. We're just here to meet with Michael." He was fast to reassure her, gesturing blindly behind him at Jace.

Ms. Morgenstern didn't seem to have noticed Jace yet, but her mesmerizing eyes slid over to meet his at this, and she looked completely taken aback when green clashed with gold. "O-Oh! Yes, of course." She stammered out after her eyes held onto Jace's for much longer than would be sociably acceptable in the workplace. Brushing a stray lock of scarlet hair behind her ear, she looked down at her desk and clicked the intercom for Michael's office. "Michael, Mr. Starkweather is here to see you."

"_Okie-dokie, Aritchokie,"_ came through the small speaker, causing Hodge to chuckle and Jace to furrow his brows in confusion. _'Artichokie'? The fuck-?_

Ms. Morgenstern rolled her eyes good-naturedly and leaned back in her chair, her eyes meeting Jace's a moment later. She wasn't wearing very much make-up, Jace noticed, but she really didn't need the little that she had on. Her skin was porcelain and creamy, and her eyes were all that Jace could really focus on her face, anyway. They were just so bright, the hint of intelligence shining bright in her pupils.

Jace was shaken out of his daze when her eyes drifted away from his once more and she turned to face someone. Blinking out of his state, and wondering just what the hell was wrong with him, he slowly turned his eyes toward whatever Ms. Morgenstern had turned hers towards.

A man -with smoothed back, dark-brown hair and kind, dark eyes- was standing in front of Hodge and was panting slightly. "Sorry for the delay, Hodge. I was working on my afternoon ab workout." He said, shaking hands with Hodge and smiling widely.

Jace just bit his lip and rocked back on his heels nervously. He still wasn't fully aware of what was going on; his entire morning, from when he had entered Hodge's office up to right now, was a complete and total blur. He might've been in shock, or his mind just hadn't processed his current situation yet. He would probably freak out later, when he was at his apartment, but he felt calm right now. Slightly confused about anything and everything that was going on, but calm.

"Michael, how are you? I've been meaning to come down here for a while, but things have been so busy, and-," Hodge started to explain, his tone not sounding sorry at all as he tried to come up with an excuse for not visiting. 'Michael', as Hodge had called him, just shook his head slightly and dropped his hand from Hodge's.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Hodge. I know how things get upstairs, especially now that you're the CEO." He then turned his eyes on Jace, seeming to notice that he was there for the first time. "Oh! And this is…?" he trailed off, his eyes flickering back to Hodge's in question.

Hodge jumped wright in with, "This is Mr. Jonathan Herondale, the new salesman. He agreed to take up the position in Malachi's place, so now all that we have to do is sign the paperwork."

"Of course, of course." Michael took a step forward and stretched his hand out toward Jace, giving him no other option but to take it up in his and shake it. "Michael Wayland at your service, Jonathan." He said to Jace in a mock-formal voice.

Jace winced at the sound of his birth-given name, and said, "It's Jace. I haven't been called 'Jonathan' since I still lived with my mom."

Michael nodded and stepped back away from Jace, running his eyes up and down Jace's body a couple times, as if he was sizing him up. This action made Jace extremely uncomfortable, and he cleared his throat after a moment of awkwardly shifting.

"Well, shall we get things set up and ready to go? I would like Mr. Herondale to start learning the works, and whatnot, so that he can start helping get this branch back up and running. Things just haven't been the same since Malachi passed, and he held the majority of our local sales, so…" Hodge trailed off, offering a sympathetic smile in Michael's direction at the end of his speech.

Michael, however, just shrugged in response and started towards one of the doors around the edge of the large office-space. It was slightly ajar, the sign that someone had recently come through it, most likely Michael. Said man led Jace and Hodge through the door, and into a smallish office.

It was nowhere near as grand as Hodge's office upstairs, but that was to be expected. Hodge was the CEO of a nationwide corporation, and Michael was the Regional Manager of the New York City Branch.

Big, massive difference.

A wide, black desk was set in the middle of the room, with two plastic chairs sat in front of it and a dark-leather, wheeled-one behind it. A large monitor and keyboard were set among piles and stacks of papers, and a corded-phone was set on the edge of the desk, appearing as if it were about to take a dive over it and onto the carpeted-floors.

Jace walked in cautiously, only taking a seat on one of the cheap chairs after Hodge had. Michael rounded the wide desk and planted himself down into the large chair that sat behind it, before looking up at the two men before him and raising an eyebrow.

"So, shall we get this over with? I hate doing paperwork," he said, mumbling the last part to himself.

Hodge held up the stack of papers that he had been holding in his hand since he and Jace had left his office, and he slid them across the table over to rest on top of a pile of more papers that were cluttered on the desk. Jace bit the inside of his cheek nervously as Hodge and Michael began reading over the papers and discussing just exactly what Jace would be doing from now on, but he was only aware of their lips moving. And then he was signing several places on a contract of sorts, finishing off the deal.

He had absolutely no idea what this new job had in store for him, but he was curious enough to take the risk and find out...

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**New Story! Yay!**

**So, I know that I should probably be updating my other stories right about now, and I'll get to them when I feel like it, but this story has been festering in my mind for over two months now, and I just need to let it out already! This story in particular was inspired from **_**The Office**_**, and I have so many ideas for this story, I just… I hope that you liked it!**

**Review and tell me what you think, if you feel like it. :D**

**Review&amp;Follow**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The air was cool and crisp as Jace made his way through the large, revolving door that stood proudly in the entranced of New York's _City of Glass_ division. He had taken a taxi to work this morning, and now all that he had to do was go start his new job.

Yes, he was promoted. From a lowly customer-service provider, to the new salesman up on floor 16.

Having never actually sold anything to _anybody_ before, besides the crappy yard-sales that he and his family used to throw during the summer when he was a kid, Jace didn't really know what to expect. Michael, after Hodge had finished signing the forms and documents that clarified that Jace was now promoted and that he would be working upstairs from now on, had shown him around the office a bit and introduced him to his 'mentor', if one could call him that.

Simon Lewis, the head-salesman of the branch. He had large, square glasses that were always sliding down his nose, dark hair, and brown eyes. His desk, which was in the cluster along with Jace's and somebody else's that was absent when Jace was introduced to Simon, was covered in Star Wars figurines and looked like he had just emptied the trashcan right on top of the desk. Jace, being almost OCD with his cleaning habits, couldn't help but dread sitting next to the guy for the foreseeable future.

Simon seemed to immediately dislike Jace, to which Jace had absolutely no idea why, and he had been curt as he explained to him just what exactly he did every day. It sounded simple enough to Jace. All that he had to do was answer his phone when it rang and sell glass to the people on the other line, and maintain the clients that he would be getting today. Apparently he would be receiving Malachi's clients, who died sometime last month, so he just had to continue to keep their business.

Jace would be great at it, Michael had said, and he would master it in no time at all.

Jace's new boss had also mentioned something about bypassing Simon before the month was over, and the other salesman had scowled darkly over at Jace. Though, the blond didn't really feel threatened. Simon was exceptionally tall, but Jace was taller and had more muscle mass. He could dominate the brown-haired man in no time, had things gotten down to physicality.

Simon wasn't very threatening-looking, either. He was wearing a T-shirt under his suit-jacket that said '_Your Mom'_ on it in bold-lettering, and had what looked like a gaming-controller sticking out of one of his desk drawers. _Frightening,_ Jace had thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. _I'm sitting next to a nerd,_ his mind had added for him dreadfully as an afterthought.

Now, Jace stepped onto the elevator and thumbed the 'UP' button. He was still slightly nervous about today, his first day of having a job that could possibly get him somewhere in life, but he was more excited than anything. He had called his parents right after he had gotten through the door of his apartment last night, and they had promised to come up and visit him as soon as their cruise was over and they had gotten back home.

Jace had grown up in Denver, Colorado, and he had gone to college in upstate New York. He had taken two years' worth of writing classes, because that was the occupation that he wanted to assume, but had dropped out when one of his teachers had started hitting on him. Having a fourty-year-old try to kiss you after class wasn't really flattering, considering that she was twice his age. Jace had already moved into his apartment and everything, and he had really enjoyed the city, so he decided to just stay there, instead of going back home.

He had already had his job down in customer-service by that time, since he had gotten it during his first year of college, so he decided to just settle down for now, and then he would see where life took him.

His parents weren't very happy about him quitting school and refusing to come home, but they eventually accepted that he lived in New York, and they lived in Colorado.

Jace's father, Stephen, used to work for the railroad; conducting the trains and running loads to and from Denver of supplies for large industries. Stephen had gotten injured while on the job, and now he was pretty much set for life with workman's comp. Who knew that getting a back injury that disabled all feeling in your entire left leg would pay off so well?

Now, Jace's parents traveled the world in their free-time –which just so happened to be most of their time. They were always traveling and going on cruises across the Caribbean, sometimes even inviting Jace to come along with them. He always declined their offers though, stating that he needed to stay in New York for his job.

Now, though, he actually had a good job that was proof to that statement.

When the elevator's doors slid open with a '_ding_', Jace readjusted his messenger-bag that was slung across his shoulder and blew out a long breath, readying himself for the first day of his new job. He walked down the long hallway, nerves curling in his gut as he did.

Why was he so nervous? He had never had trouble with trying new things, and this job was a _really good_ new thing for him. He finally got promoted, like he had been wanting ever since he had first taken the job downstairs in customer-service. So why, again, was he acting like a wimp? He needed to gather his shit, so he did.

Pushing open the door that lead to the large office-space that he was first introduced to yesterday, Jace made his way over to stand in front of the half-circle secretary's desk that was sat in the entrance of the massive office-space. The girl from yesterday –Ms. Morgenstern- was sat behind the large counter, her head bent over a notebook as she wrote captivatedly. She seemed to be in her own world as she wrote whatever she was down onto the pad that was laid out beneath her hands. Her dark-red hair was wild and curly around her face, and she kept brushing it back away from her eyes in annoyance as she focused on her task at hand.

Jace had the sudden urge to brush her hair away from her face for her, to tuck the thick locks behind her ear, but he shook it off and blinked himself out of his daze. He needed to focus on the things that actually mattered right now, and those things certainly weren't including the attractive receptionist in front of him. No matter how much his body may have wanted them to.

Seeing that Ms. Morgenstern still hadn't noticed him yet, Jace coughed slightly and leaned against the counter to get her attention. She looked up with a small gasp, and then she was blushing furiously and scrambling to close her notebook. Jace saw, with slight surprise, that her notebook wasn't even a notebook at all, but a sketch-pad. _An artist,_ Jace thought to himself interestedly. _I wonder if she's any good…_

"S-sorry," she stammered out, her blush darkening even further as she realized just who she was talking to. "I kind of get sucked up into my own head sometimes." She sounded sheepish, and she bit her lip as her eyes met his gold ones.

Jace fought the urge to chuckle at how adorable she looked, all flustered like that, and straightened up form where he was leaning against the counter. He knew that he was attractive, but he figured that he might as well let the poor girl get herself under control; despite the fact that Jace found himself liking it when she blushed.

"Don't worry about it. I'm –uh- the new salesman? I think…" Jace said unsurely, his nerves suddenly hitting him like a semi-truck.

Ms. Morgenstern nodded and, seeming to have gotten herself under control, sent a small smile up at him. Even with the large counter being almost up to Jace's chest, she was still a long distance away from eyelevel. "Yeah, Michael said that you would be starting here today. Congrats, by the way. It must be nice to finally get out of customer-service, huh?" she said conversationally, seeming to be at more ease than a couple of seconds ago.

Jace nodded. "Yeah. So… um, do I need to sign something, or-?" he was cut off by a loud voice booming through the flat-lay of the office-space, causing him to swing his head in the voice's direction.

"Mr. Herondale! Flying into our little office like the bird from which you were named after!" Mr. Wayland exclaimed grandly, wearing a wide smile as he bounded over to stand next to the counter that Jace was stood next to. Jace thought that Mr. Wayland was a peculiar choice for Regional Manager, what with his all-play-no-work personality, but he was really nice either way.

Jace chuckled awkwardly as Mr. Wayland laughed merrily at his own joke. "Yeah…" he trailed off, running a hand through his hair as his eyes flickered over to meet Ms. Morgenstern's. She had her hand covering her mouth and her eyes were alight with laughter as she fought to keep her giggles to herself.

"So, what am I doing here, exactly? Like, I know that I'm selling glass and windows and stuff, but… I'm clueless as of how I'm going to do that, Mr. Wayland," Jace said after a moment, looking expectantly to Mr. Wayland for answers.

The man in question just chuckled and smiled reassuringly at Jace, crossing the distance between them to sling an arm around the taller man's shoulders. Jace found that position very awkward, but he said nothing as Mr. Wayland guided him over to stand at the front of the large office-space.

"Call me Michael, Mr. Herondale. Or would you like 'Jonathan'?" he asked Jace kindly, raising his eyebrows up at the taller man in question.

"Just Jace, actually," Jace told him, biting back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue. He remembered distinctively that he told Mr. Way- _Michael_ that yesterday, but he just chose to keep that to himself for the time being. Better to not sound like a complete and total jackass on his first day, right?

"Just Jace. Wonderful! Now, kiddo, let's get this show on the road, shall we?" Michael said rhetorically, not giving Jace the chance to respond before he was raising his voice loud enough so that the entire office-space could hear him clearly. "Attention fellow _Glassians_! We have a new member to add to our little cult, so be welcoming!"

Jace had absolutely no idea what the hell a '_Glassian_' was, and was slightly disturbed when Michael said 'cult', but the older man sent him a sly wink out of the corner of his eye, reassuring him that he was just teasing. Jace was feeling various emotions this morning –from being nervous, to being slightly disturbed, to being miffed off by being referred to as a 'kid'- and he wasn't entirely sure that it was good for his health. He might get an ulcer or something…

Michael waited patiently with a smile on his face as everyone who wasn't already facing the front of the large room spun around in their office-chairs to face him and Jace. Jace, seeing that several of the women in the office were eyeing him like a piece of meat, shuffled awkwardly and coughed silently into his hand.

"This is Jace, everyone. He is to be our new salesman, taking Malachi's place –God, bless his soul. He has potential, and I expect you to all kinda show him the ranks. Got it? Jace very well might pass you all up once he gets the gist of things." Michael explained kindly, looking like an eager two-year-old as he gazed up at Jace.

They all nodded –for the most part- except for Simon. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, in clear view of Jace, as he was seated in his desk that was in a group at the front of the office. Wearing thick glasses and a Star Wars t-shirt under his suit-jacket today, Simon was the show-model of a nerd, in Jace's eyes.

"Oh, _please_," Simon huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring up at Jace from his position at his desk. Jace stared back at him straightly, daring him to speak his mind. _This's gonna be good._ "He couldn't sell a window if he paid the client double what the actual _window _costs. Am I right?" Simon looked behind him as he geekily snickered to himself, only to find blank stares looking back at him. "Whatever," he huffed, startlingly resembling a pouting toddler.

Jace bit his lip and briefly closed his eyes to keep his laughter in, but by the dark look that Simon shot him when his eyes opened back up, it didn't work. He cleared his throat and moved his gaze back to Michael as he began to speak again.

"Simon, why don't you give Jace a chance, eh? You two are, after all, going to be desk-mates for the foreseeable future," he reminded Simon, offering the pouting man an encouraging smile at the end of his speech. Simon just grunted and slouched in his seat, appearing to have resigned to his fate.

Michael turned to face Jace full-on, and said, "You can set your stuff up, and then just tell Simon when you're ready to start, and he'll help you out, okay?" Jace nodded. "Great! Alright, well, I'll be in my office, attending to _important matters_, so just come get me if you need anything," Michael said, backing up towards the door that Jace knew led to his office.

When Michael had disappeared into his office, Jace took a seat at his desk, which just-so-happened to be right next to the receptionist's desk. Maybe sitting next to Simon wouldn't have all bad perks…

The group of desks that Jace's was located in contained three desks: Simon's, Jace's, and another one that was vacant of a person at the moment, but it had papers and other items spread across it that indicated that someone sat there. Jace's desk already had the necessities laid out on and inside of it –stapler, tape-dispenser, Post-Its, phone, computer, monitor and keyboard, pencil-cup full of assorted pens and pencils, paperclips, notepads, etc. All that Jace felt his desk needed was some indication of what he was doing at work, and he needed to actually start _working_ for that to become apparent.

Turning to face Simon, whose desk was located to the left of Jace's, Jace opened his mouth to ask what he was supposed to be doing, only to get cut off by Simon holding up a finger. "Hold your horses, Pony-boy. Busy," he said. Jace closed his mouth and bit his tongue to hold in the retort that was on the verge of spewing out. _He looks like a prestigious douche,_ Jace mused to himself, sniggering right after the thought had run through his head.

Simon's eyes snapped over to lock onto Jace's, away from his computer-screen, when he heard his snicker, their dark-brown color sharp and accusatory. "_What_?" he demanded, eyes narrowing into slits. Jace just shook his head and cleared his throat, plastering an innocent smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair.

"Nothing. I need to know what I'm supposed to be doing…" he trailed off, raising an eyebrow over at Simon in question.

"I _said_, hold on. Just 'cause you look like a pretty _girl_, doesn't mean that I'm going to stop my work just to help you out. Some people actually care about other things than their hair, you know," Simon said, turning back to face his computer.

Jace furrowed his brows and stared at him for a long moment. _What the hell-? That didn't even make any sense!_

"Take a picture; it'll last longer." Simon never even glanced away from his screen as he said this, but his foul attitude was very apparent in his voice. _Well, then._

"I don't think that I want a permanent copy of that hanging on my wall, but… if you insist," Jace said with a shrug, fishing his phone out of his pocket and snapping a pic of Simon's face. _Hey, if he wants me to be his photographer…_

Simon turned to him with a sneer, scowling as he noticed the phone in Jace's hand. "We're not supposed to have our phones out during work hours; only on breaks. But if you want to stare at my beauty, I'd much more rather you did it on your phone than while I'm trying to work." Simon shrugged, turning back to his computer-screen once more.

"I don't know about '_beauty_', but I was just thinking…" Jace trailed off, looking down at his phone screen that still bore the picture of Simon's side-profile on it, squinting as if he was analyzing it closely.

Simon took the bait, and turned towards him again, looking wary and reluctant as he abandoned his computer once more. "What? 'Just thinking' _what_?" he asked slowly, his face both stony and cautious at the same time.

Jace shrugged. "Oh, just that your face resembles that of a rat, startlingly! It's almost concerning," he told Simon wickedly, looking up from his phone with a smirk.

Simon's eyes widened and his expression turned thunderous as he scooted away from his desk dramatically and turned to face Jace fully. "You little-!" he started, only to get cut off by a bored voice.

"Calm down, Simon. Jace was just joking," the voice said, coming from Jace's right. _I wasn't,_ Jace thought to himself as he turned to face the newcomer.

A tall man, only a few inches taller than Jace, stood next to the desk that was in Jace and Simon's group that was empty of a person earlier. He had stark-black hair that hung slightly down over his ears, and deep-blue eyes. He hung his suit-jacket on the back of the chair that was set behind the once-vacant desk and dropped his bag down onto the floor by his desk, before sinking down into the chair that he just put his jacket on with a sigh. He held his hand out to Jace and offered him a friendly smile.

"I'm Alec. I guess that we're going to be desk-buddies from now on," he said as Jace reached his hand out to shake his outstretched one.

Jace nodded and grinned a little as he said, "Jace. I'm supposed to be the new salesman, but since _somebody_ won't tell me what the hell I'm supposed to be doing…" Jace shot Simon, who was glowering away to himself as he typed, a look when he said this, and Alec chuckled as he sat back and retracted his hand from Jace's.

"Just ignore Simon. It's what the rest of us do," he advised, causing Simon to shoot him a look of betrayal.

"Alec! You're supposed to be on my side; not some dyed-blonde wannabe-Goth weirdo's! We're supposed to be _Glassians_ together!" Simon exclaimed, sounding as if his trust was just thrown out a twenty-story window and ground to dust on the sidewalk below.

Jace furrowed his brows at the mention of the foreign word, _Glassians. What in the holy hell is a Glassian? Maybe Michael was serious about the whole 'cult' thing…?_

Alec snorted. "Simon, you know that nobody besides you and Michael actually cares about that club, right? We all just joined to get out of doing work on Fridays," he said, rolling his eyes. Simon looked completely offended, and Jace watched the two interact with each other with interest, even leaning back in his seat to be more comfortable as he observed.

"You swore an _oath_, Alexander!" Simon cried. Alec just shook his head and turned to face Jace, ignoring Simon when he tried to get his attention back again.

"So, should I help you get started?" Alec asked Jace, rolling his chair over to the side of Jace's desk when Jace nodded.

"Yeah." Jace watched as Alec turned on the computer that was sat on the mostly-emtpy desk in front of him and typed something into the keyboard.

"So, what you do is…" Alec started to explain, taking Simon's place in showing Jace 'the ranks'.

As Alec showed Jace how to do things, Jace snuck a quick glance at Simon from the corner of his eye. Simon glared back at him in turn, causing Jace to grin before turning his attention back on what Alec was explaining.

_Maybe working here won't be so bad…_

* * *

**So, things are going along… Anywho… **

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	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Jace leaned back in his chair and sighed, glancing at the clock that adorned the wall above the doorway that led to the breakroom for the millionth time today. He couldn't wait until lunchtime; he was _starving_. Having had the same appetite since he was a teenager, Jace couldn't go more than three hours without eating. He was almost always hungry, and he had forgotten to take a break earlier to eat.

Though, he supposed, food wasn't the only reason that he was eager for his lunch-break. His hands hurt, his ass was numb from sitting for so long, and he was _this close _to smashing Simon's head through his monitor, if he didn't stop humming the Star Wars theme song as he typed.

And, at lunch, he would get to see Clary. But that was something that he was trying to push to the back of his mind, for the moment.

Jace had been working upstairs at _City of Glass_ for two weeks, and he was still getting used to everything. The hours were longer, the work was harder, and he was still adjusting to his new job of being a salesman. It's not like he couldn't handle his job, he was actually enjoying it more than he thought he would; he just had to get used to everything. And he would, with time.

Things were going pretty good for him so far, though. He had figured out his new job pretty easily, with Alec's help, and he got along with the people in the office better than he thought he would have. _Well,_ Jace thought, _everybody except for Simon._

For some reason, the nerd just couldn't leave Jace alone. He was always causing conflict, and Jace would be damned if he didn't find it annoying and slightly amusing. But mostly annoying. It was almost as if Simon had some sort of guy-crush on him, but Jace decided to ignore that thought for the sake of having to sit next to him every day for the foreseeable future.

On Jace's first day working upstairs, after Alec had showed him what to do, he had been introduced personally to the rest of the office. Michael had come out of his office, and then proceeded to embarrass Jace even further than he had earlier that morning…

* * *

_Jace's First Day…_

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! May I introduce you all to Mr. Jace Herondale!" Michael announced grandly, mimicking applause and cheering under his breath immediately after. Jace coughed and shifted on his feet, trying to disappear into thin air as all eyes in the office turned to face him. He had already gone through this once this morning, how many more times did Michael plan to make him stand in front of everybody today? And how many times did he need to be introduced to a group of—hopefully—competent adults?

"Now, as you probably all heard me say earlier, this is Jace. He's the new salesman, blah, blah, blah. I think that you all get the drift," Michael continued, pausing as he walked over to one of the doors that decorated the walls of the large office space. He pulled open the door with a wide gesture of his hand, and then turned back to face the somewhat curious faces of the crowd before him. "I have personally, with the help of Corporate, arranged a party—to welcome Jace into our little family, if you will. So, if everybody will please come into the conference-room, we can get started. There's cake." Michael smiled toothily and gestured towards the open doorway once more, glancing quickly at Jace as he did.

Quiet exclamations murmured throughout the office, and then people were rising from their desks and making their way into the conference-room that Michael was still holding the door open for. Jace just kind of stood to the side and allowed everyone else to file into the room ahead of him, not really knowing what to do. Michael eventually gave up on holding the door open, and left it to Jace to catch the door before it slammed shut on the red-haired receptionist that he had briefly met earlier. As his hand caught ahold of the—surprisingly heavy—door, Ms. Morgenstern looked up into his eyes with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thanks, I wasn't even paying attention," she said quietly, and her words were a mixture of sheepish and friendly.

Jace nodded and sent her an encouraging grin. "No problem."

Ms. Morgenstern ducked through the doorway and turned back to face Jace as he hesitated in the doorway behind her, being the only person not in the conference-room already. Jace peered into the room warily, watching as Michael sliced up a rather large sheet-cake and passed around plates of the dessert to the awaiting crowd. Ms. Morgenstern smiled kindly over at him and offered Jace her hand, bringing his attention away from the crowd in front of him.

"I'm Clary. I didn't get a chance to formerly introduce myself earlier; Michael was just really excited to have someone else to try out his pranks on," she said as Jace gently took ahold of her hand and shook it.

_Clary. Pretty name,_ Jace mused, before his mind registered the rest of her words.

Jace's brows crinkled with concern for his own well-being. "Um… Pranks? What kind of pranks?" he asked anxiously, his eyes flickering over to where Michael was standing with a plate full of cake, talking eagerly with Simon.

Clary laughed lightly, drawing Jace's eyes to her once more. Her laugh was intriguing; it made you want to sit and listen to it for hours at a time. Or maybe that was just the first thought that went through Jace's head, he didn't know.

"Don't worry; they shouldn't actually be considered 'pranks'. Michael just likes to think that he and Simon are geniuses, and therefore he makes all of the newbies go through his version of initiation." Clary paused. "And you should just let him have his fun. We don't get a lot of visitors in this particular department, and he was really excited for you to come work with us."

Jace absorbed her words for a moment, before nodding slightly and entering the room fully. He stood as close to Clary as could be considered socially-acceptable for strangers to be and watched as Michael suddenly stood on a chair and addressed the room.

"Shoot," Clary mumbled under her breath, dread and disapproval clear in her tone.

Jace turned towards her to ask what she was talking about, but Michael spoke up before he could even open his mouth.

"Okay, everybody! I have a few things to say, and then I would like Jace to come introduce himself," he said brightly, turning his eyes on Jace and grinning hopefully over at him.

Jace was confused; hadn't Michael already 'introduced' him today? Like, twice? What more did Michael want from him, a pre-written speech explaining Jace's childhood? Maybe a memoir about how he was birthed?

Jace, seeing that Michael was waiting for a response from him, just shook his head fractionally and tried to communicate just how much he was going to resist speaking in from of everyone through his eyes. The light in Michael's eyes dimmed slightly, but he was still bubbly as he continued to address the crowd in front of his chair-podium.

"Well, I guess that Jace is shy, so I'll just go ahead with things." He held out his hand expectantly, in the general direction of where Simon was standing below him. "Simon, if you will please hand me the toasting wine," he said, not looking down to see if Simon would hand him this supposed 'toasting wine', but instead smiling grandly at the crowd of uninterested employees in front of him.

Simon picked up a questionable glass bottle from the table where the sheet-cake was sat and poured a light liquid into one of the many plastic cups set on the conference-table—resembling that of a waiter, or a butler. He then obediently handed the cup over to Michael, who brought it up to eye-level and started his speech.

"Since the dawn of time, there has been glass. Whether in windows, or in cars, or in fancy doors, glass has always been there for us. It is what you could call the glue of the universe—," he started to say, dramatically gesturing with his free hand and almost dumping his 'toasting wine' all over his suit-jacket.

As Michael continued to spew off nonsense about glass and other random things, Jace leaned down so that his mouth was close by Clary's ear, and whispered, "What the hell is he talking about?"

Clary glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and mumbled back grimly, quietly, "Michael likes to make toasts for everything—every single holiday and special occasion. And getting a new salesman is considered a big occasion in his books, apparently."

Jace nodded, before a sudden thought occurred to him. "That isn't actual wine is it? Because I thought that alcohol was illegal in the workplace," he whispered, eyeing Michael's cup warily.

Jace wasn't in the mood to find out what Michael was like intoxicated—he could barely handle him sober.

Clary giggled quietly and shook her head, her hair slightly brushing against the side of Jace's cheek. He moved away slightly, not wanting to invade her personal space or anything—because after all, he had just met her officially today.

"It's apple-cider. Michael just thinks that it's wine, but I filled up an empty wine-bottle up with cider instead. After last year's Christmas party…" Clary trailed off, shuddering slightly.

Jace just nodded and tried to tune back into Michael's speech.

"—and I am so proud to say that you, Mr. Jace Herondale, will be joining our family," Michael said, sounding choked up. Jace wasn't quite sure how to respond to that; he had just met this guy yesterday, and excuse him if he wasn't quite comfortable with being cried over. And by a stranger, nonetheless.

But of course, Jace had to take it like a man and not show just how freaked out he was—because Michael was staring right at him. So, using one of his mother's many 'tips on how to be polite', he just nodded slightly at his new boss and sent him a small smile, hoping to consolidate him and to stop him from actually crying.

_There's nothing worse than watching a grown man blubber over something trivial_, Jace thought to himself.

Michael smiled back at him, practically beaming and apparently satisfied by his response—or the lack thereof. "Well," he started, and raised his cup up in the air, before seeming to realize that he was the only one with a drink. He snapped at Simon under his breath, "Why doesn't everybody have toasting wine, Simon? Do it now," before he turned to smile at everybody else, with his hand still raised, as Simon scrambled to fill up cups and pass them around.

When everybody had a cup—filled with cider instead of wine, but that would be a little secret kept between Jace and his, hopefully, new friend—Michael started his toast once more. "I would just like to welcome you into our little family, Jace. Welcome, and may your successes as a salesman soar higher than your dreams." He finished this off with taking a drink of his 'wine', cueing everyone else to do so as well.

Jace took a small sip from his cup, never having been a huge fan of apple-cider, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Clary smiling into her own cup. He bit back a smirk, a giddy feeling pooling in his gut for absolutely no reason at all, and then tried to focus his attention on the rest of the room.

People all around him were conversing and Jace figured that he might as well try to be social—after all, he _was_ going to have to work with these people from now on. _But_, he internally concluded, _I'm not going to go up to people and try to start a conversation. I'll try to be social, but I'm not actually going to make an effort_.

And, it seemed, Clary wasn't going to make much of an effort, either. She just stayed by Jace's side, didn't make to move and start talking with other people, and for that he was grateful. He didn't want to look like a complete loner on his first day, and he might've already made a friend. And yes, it was okay for adults to be excited about making new friends. It was _completely_ normal.

Or at least that's what he tried to convince himself.

Jace stood quietly by Clary for a few minutes, before she started to talk, and he turned to face her once more.

"I guess I should introduce you to everybody, huh?" she asked. When Jace nodded and shrugged with a _'sure'_ expression, she continued, "Well, I'm pretty sure you've already met Simon—he's my best friend. And Alec, he doesn't really like me all that much, but I've been trying to soften him up and I'm pretty sure that he likes me, at least a little bit, deep down. I'm almost positive that he's actually the biggest sweetheart ever to walk the earth, but I just have to break through his thick outer shell first—"

Jace cut her off before she could continue, something she said early on bugging the shit out of him. "Wait. Simon—Lord of the Nerds, I Hate Everything Within a Five Mile Radius _Simon_—is your best friend? Are you sure we're talking about the same guy, because he's kind of an ass—," he started, eyeing her warily as he tried to find out if she was just messing with him earlier.

She wasn't. Sadly.

"Hey—he's not an ass! He just really doesn't seem to like you, but I'm sure he'll get over it. He's really a nice guy—you'll just have to get used to him. And don't act so innocent. I know you've been baiting him all day," Clary told him, sounding stubborn and defensive, and Jace would be damned if he didn't find it incredibly attractive.

So he couldn't help but grin as he said, "Okay, okay. I believe you. I'll give him a chance to redeem himself, but I don't think it'll work out. And if one of us ends up dead in the end, I'm blaming you."

Clary just grinned back up at him and replied with a teasing, "Sounds fair enough," before someone else joined their little group.

It was a woman, and Jace knew women well. She had very long, very black hair, pin-straight, and the darkest set of eyes he had ever had the chance to encounter. Her lips were painted red and a tight black skirt hugged her legs beneath a fashionable blazer on top. Jace couldn't help but think that she looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place where he would know her from.

While Jace was taking in the form in front of him, Clary brightened up and smiled over at the woman in front of him. "Jace, this is Izzy. She's a Supplier Relations Rep, also Alec's sister."

'Izzy' smiled over at Jace, bringing warmth to her dark eyes, and held out her manicured hand for him to shake. "And you must be Jace—though it's not that hard to recognize you, considering that Michael has been talking about you nonstop."

Jace smiled at her and took her hand, bringing it to his lips. So he was a flirt—sue him. "Nice to meet you."

Izzy laughed and shook her head at him when she had her hand back, sneaking a glance at Clary as she did. "Well, aren't you a smooth one. I see what you mean, Clare," she said, winking dramatically at the now-blushing redhead by Jace's side before dashing off to go talk to one of the other girls in the office.

Jace furrowed his brows in confusion, both at what Izzy said and at Clary's blush, but was stopped from questioning his blushing companion by another person walking up to them. And this person was… well, would _sparkly_ be descriptive enough?

The man—Jace was pretty sure it was a man, but he was going to keep his references gender-neutral until he was positive—was wearing a very glittery tie, and his dark hair was also decked-out in glitter. He had dark kohl liner surrounding his eyes, and was grinning from ear to ear—slightly unnerving Jace. Other than the odd tie and a few other things, he appeared to be relatively normal.

That is, until he spoke.

"Clary, my darling, would you care to introduce me to this fine specimen?" the man asked, giving Jace a thorough once-over. Jace, feeling incredibly uncomfortable under the man's gaze, shifted form foot to foot until the man's eyes lifted up to his face once more.

Clary giggled slightly and leaned over to nudge the man's arm teasingly with her hand. Jace watched the movement under a sharp gaze, not liking her touching anybody else—but then he mentally chided himself for it, because he had literally _just_ met this girl.

"Magnus, stop it," Clary told the man—'Magnus', apparently—before turning towards Jace and saying, "Don't mind him, he just enjoys the discomfort of others. It's cruel, and you don't have to deal with it." She shot Magnus a sharp look, causing him to chuckle, before he held out his hand towards Jace.

"Magnus 'The Magnificent' Bane, blondie, but you can refer to me as simply Magnus. Though, 'Your Magnificence' will also be accepted—," he started to say, and Jace started to reach towards his outstretched hand out of politeness, but Clary cut Magnus off before he could go any further.

"Oh, just go hit on Alec or something, Mags," she told him, pushing him away from Jace and back into the crowd of employees. She was surprisingly strong for such a short person, Jace noted. Magnus just shot her a wink, and then he was gone.

_Kind of like magic,_ Jace mused to himself.

"Sorry about him," Clary said, capturing Jace's attention once more.

He grinned. "It's fine. He's quite a…an _interesting_ character, isn't he?"

Clary snorted. "Yeah, interesting. _Right_."

Jace raised an eyebrow at her. _Ah, sarcastic, are we? Hmm…_

They were soon joined by someone else—well, several other 'someone's.

An olive-toned girl with curly hair—who Jace later learned was named Maia; a tall guy with brown hair named Jordan, who was apparently dating Maia, though it might have been a little against Jordan's will; and an older man, maybe around forty-five, with ginger hair—who Jace learned was named Henry. Maia was the Customer Service Rep for the NYC branch of _City of Glass_, Jordan was apparently '_just the temp_', and Henry was the HR Rep for this branch. They were all really nice people, Jace decided. Sadly though, they all apparently worked in the annex, so Jace wouldn't be seeing a whole lot of them during the day.

Clary and Jace ended up just standing in the corner of the room for the rest of the 'party'. Jace was introduced to a few more people from around the office—Raphael, Bat, and Camille, the accountants—and then Michael announced that they all should clean up and get back to work.

And as much as Jace hated to admit it, he didn't have a bad time. But that might have had something to do with the person he spent the whole party talking to…

* * *

_Present…_

The clock that was placed above the breakroom doorway read 11:30, and Jace sighed in relief as he sprang up from his chair. He made a beeline for the breakroom, hearing a small commotion from the flat-lay of the office as the rest of the employees ambled into the breakroom after him. Jace was starving, and he wasn't going to wait for everybody else to hurry up and join him—he was going to eat _right now_.

He grabbed his lunch out of the fridge that was pushed into one of the breakroom's corners—which was a brown paper bag with '_JACE_' written neatly across the top—and then weaved in between the tables that crowded the room toward the one in the very back of the room. He'd been the same in high school during lunch hours: find the table in the very back of the room, preferably in the corner, and sit by yourself. It wasn't that Jace was antisocial, or that he had no friends—it was just that he had a complex for hating social interaction with humans.

But that sounds bad, so we're just going to say that he wanted to eat his lunch in peace, okay?

Jace opened his bag and fished in it for his sandwich—which just so happened to be PB&amp;J, his mother's recipe. After he had taken a massive bite out of the poor sandwich, he spared a look up at the rest of the room. Almost the entire office had filed in, taking up the majority of the tables and sitting in groups as they talked about this and that while they ate. Even the Warehouse Crew was there, Jace noted, taking another bite.

Jace's first week working upstairs with the 'big guys', he had learned that the New York City branch of _City of Glass_ had a warehouse in the bottom of the building. He was pretty astounded when he learned that little fact, given the fact that he had worked there for two years now and had never heard of a warehouse located anywhere in the building. But he _had_ been just kind of half-assing his job down in Customer Service, so…

The cute receptionist, who had become somewhat of a friend to Jace in the past two weeks, hadn't come into the breakroom yet, and Jace watched the door slightly eagerly as he waited for her to come join him. They had been sitting together, along with a few others, at lunch, and Jace looked forward to his breaks. He enjoyed having Clary's company, and was sure that they could become great friends with time. _Maybe even more than friends…_

He had to fight off a grin when Clary's bright red curls cleared the doorway. He forced his eyes down to the table, assuming an air of nonchalance. He didn't want to appear _too_ eager, after all.

He waited for her to walk over to his table, as she had done every day for the past two weeks. It had become a sort of ritual for them—Jace would start out sitting alone in the back of the breakroom at the back table, Clary would come in a little later than him, and then she'd come join him at the table and maybe bring one or two of her friends. Most of the time her friends consisted of Simon and/or Izzy, but Jace figured that he could ignore Lord of the Nerds for the duration of his lunchbreak.

But Jace had to look up from the gray surface of the table, had to discontinue his faux nonchalance act, when Clary didn't come join him at what he had started to dub as 'their table'. And when his eyes were no longer stuck taking in the plain surface of the break table, when he forced himself to look around the room in search of the familiar red curls, he realized what had happened.

Clary was sitting on the other side of the room, at a table with warehouse workers occupying every available seat. It was an almost ridiculous sight, Clary's bright hair standing out in a crowd of dark gray uniforms and work slacks. Jace would've found it comical if it weren't for the fact that Clary's small form was tucked into the side of one of the warehouse workers.

Jace's eyes narrowed. It wasn't just any of the warehouse workers, either—it was Sebastian Verlac.

Clary's fiancé.

* * *

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